'Emmanuelle' star Sylvia Kristel dies at 60

associated press

Published 5:50 pm, Thursday, October 18, 2012

Photo: Leoni Ravestein

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This Feb. 26, 2008 photo released by Features Creative Management shows actress Sylvia Kristel. Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch star of the hit 1970s erotic movie "Emmanuelle," has died of cancer at age 60. Her agent, Features Creative Management, said in a statement Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, that Kristel died in her sleep Wednesday night. Kristel, a model who turned to acting in the 1970s, had been fighting cancer for several years. (AP Photo/Leoni Ravestein/Features Creative Management) less

This Feb. 26, 2008 photo released by Features Creative Management shows actress Sylvia Kristel. Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch star of the hit 1970s erotic movie "Emmanuelle," has died of cancer at age 60. Her ... more

Photo: Leoni Ravestein

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FILE - In this May 22, 1975 file photo Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, who played the role of "Emmanuelle", poses for the camera on her arrival at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Sylvia Kristel has died of cancer at age 60. Her agent, Features Creative Management, said in a statement Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, that Kristel died in her sleep Wednesday night. Kristel, a model who turned to acting in the 1970s, had been fighting cancer for several years. (AP Photo, File) less

FILE - In this May 22, 1975 file photo Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, who played the role of "Emmanuelle", poses for the camera on her arrival at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Sylvia Kristel has died of ... more

Photo: AP

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FILE - In this July 25, 1981 file photo, Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel as Lady Chatterly in the film "Lady Chatterley's Lover", in Paris, France. Sylvia Kristel, the star of the hit 1970s erotic movie "Emmanuelle," has died of cancer at age 60. Her agent, Features Creative Management, said in a statement Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, that Kristel died in her sleep Wednesday night. Kristel, a model who turned to acting in the 1970s, had been fighting cancer for several years. (AP Photo, File) less

FILE - In this July 25, 1981 file photo, Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel as Lady Chatterly in the film "Lady Chatterley's Lover", in Paris, France. Sylvia Kristel, the star of the hit 1970s erotic movie ... more

Photo: AP

'Emmanuelle' star Sylvia Kristel dies at 60

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands - At the time, Sylvia Kristel was worried about starring in the 1974 erotic movie "Emmanuelle" but consoled herself with the thought that few people would see her sexually charged performance.

That turned out to be wrong.

"I thought, 'Oh my goodness, this is not easy stuff,' " the Dutch actress once said in an interview. "I was nervous, but then my boyfriend said, 'Who's going to watch this film? It will never pass censorship.' "

It did pass the censors and became a classic of the sexually liberated 1970s, propelling Kristel to international stardom.

Kristel died of cancer in her sleep Wednesday at age 60, her management company announced Thursday.

Kristel told the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant in 2005 that her former partner, Belgian author Hugo Claus, had persuaded her to star in "Emmanuelle." The erotic tale directed by Frenchman Just Jaeckin examined the sexual adventures of a man and his beautiful young wife in Thailand.

"He said, 'Thailand, that's nice, we've never been there, and anyway, the film will never come out in the Netherlands so you won't put your mother to shame,' " Kristel said. "In the end, 350 million people saw it worldwide."

Kristel was born into a family that ran a hotel in the central Dutch city of Utrecht and had a religious upbringing. Her striking beauty defined her career, however, sending her into modeling and then to the steamy "Emmanuelle."

She went on to star in several sequels to "Emmanuelle," as well as Hollywood movies including "Private Lessons" in 1981.

Her agent described her as one of the Netherlands' biggest movie stars, with more than 50 international films to her name.

Among them were many erotically tinted films, including a 1981 adaptation - also directed by Jaeckin - of D.H. Lawrence's novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "Mata Hari" four years later.

But moving to Hollywood in her late 20s, she sank into a world of drink and drugs.

"I wish I could have skipped that part of my life," she told the Dutch paper. She later returned to the Netherlands to live in Amsterdam, where she took up painting. She was honored in 2006 with a special jury prize at the Tribeca Film Festival for a short animated film she directed called "Topor et Moi."

Kristel said she never regretted making "Emmanuelle" but was surprised how it shaped others' perceptions of her. "People don't assume John Wayne shoots people and rides a horse on weekends," she told a Dutch interviewer. "People think I'm a nymphomaniac."

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